[Suicide Junkie]

I was actually contemplating starting a game with P&N mod, or something similar, and setting a very low ship limit. that way the few ships that are built would be upgraded over time with premium components, nanotubes, and other such stuff. the game would be forced to focus more on ship design and tactics rather than industrial might.

I'm afraid that your players would just build Battlemoons, and industrial power would remain a key element.

OTOH, you could easily outlaw them, or just disable Battlemoons with a mod tweak.

Without Battlemoons, I can see the endgame being jammed full of 1000-component ships
Even Fleet-on-Fleet slugging matches that drag out for months or years at a time.